Mike Villarreal on Taxes
Here is an interesting article by one of our State Reps.
News
Sales price disclosure would balance property tax burden
News and InformationJanuary 24, 2007
Austin American-Statesman COMMENTARY
Sales price disclosure would balance property tax burden
Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Have you ever tried moving a heavy piece of furniture with someone who does not carry his share of the weight? For middle-class homeowners, this is a lot like paying property taxes, while some of our fellow taxpayers dodge their fair share. An upcoming report from the Texas Task Force on Appraisal Reform should include a recommendation to right this wrong: requiring disclosure of real estate sales prices. If passed by the Legislature, it will greatly benefit the average homeowner. It turns out that property tax appraisers have all the information they need to fully appraise typical homes — homes that sell for $250,000 or less. However, when it comes to commercial property or million-dollar homes, tax appraisers lack access to the same kind of sales data. Consequently, owners of high-end properties often end up with discounted appraisals and thus a lighter tax bill — leaving everyone else to pick up the slack. In my hometown of San Antonio, I visited one property, La Mansion Hotel, that paid taxes on 25 percent of its reported sales price of $100 million last year. Less than two miles away, a middle-class working couple paid property taxes on nearly 100 percent of their $146,000 home. For 25 percent of the cost, the hotel owners still enjoy 100 percent of the services delivered by local governments and fully paid for by the average homeowners. That is why I have authored the Sales Information Act (House Bill 133). This bill removes the extra tax burden from the backs of middle-class homeowners by simply allowing equal access to the sales price information of all properties. The reform effort is gaining steam. A bipartisan majority of the Texas Senate is on the record for sales price disclosure, and the bipartisan House Committee on Local Government Ways and Means recently endorsed reforms. If this policy had been on the books a year ago, our schools would be $4 billion richer today. If the big property owners would help carry the heavy load, schools and local governments wouldn't keep asking regular taxpayers to carry more.
News
Sales price disclosure would balance property tax burden
News and InformationJanuary 24, 2007
Austin American-Statesman COMMENTARY
Sales price disclosure would balance property tax burden
Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Have you ever tried moving a heavy piece of furniture with someone who does not carry his share of the weight? For middle-class homeowners, this is a lot like paying property taxes, while some of our fellow taxpayers dodge their fair share. An upcoming report from the Texas Task Force on Appraisal Reform should include a recommendation to right this wrong: requiring disclosure of real estate sales prices. If passed by the Legislature, it will greatly benefit the average homeowner. It turns out that property tax appraisers have all the information they need to fully appraise typical homes — homes that sell for $250,000 or less. However, when it comes to commercial property or million-dollar homes, tax appraisers lack access to the same kind of sales data. Consequently, owners of high-end properties often end up with discounted appraisals and thus a lighter tax bill — leaving everyone else to pick up the slack. In my hometown of San Antonio, I visited one property, La Mansion Hotel, that paid taxes on 25 percent of its reported sales price of $100 million last year. Less than two miles away, a middle-class working couple paid property taxes on nearly 100 percent of their $146,000 home. For 25 percent of the cost, the hotel owners still enjoy 100 percent of the services delivered by local governments and fully paid for by the average homeowners. That is why I have authored the Sales Information Act (House Bill 133). This bill removes the extra tax burden from the backs of middle-class homeowners by simply allowing equal access to the sales price information of all properties. The reform effort is gaining steam. A bipartisan majority of the Texas Senate is on the record for sales price disclosure, and the bipartisan House Committee on Local Government Ways and Means recently endorsed reforms. If this policy had been on the books a year ago, our schools would be $4 billion richer today. If the big property owners would help carry the heavy load, schools and local governments wouldn't keep asking regular taxpayers to carry more.
posted by Chris Garcia, SAYD Chairman at
2/08/2007 09:13:00 PM
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